St. Paul of the Cross Roman Catholic Church in Atlanta, GA. at 551 Harwell Road NW, Atlanta, GA 30318 US - Our Art and Architecture
| Our Art and Architecture |
St. Paul of the Cross, Paul Francis Danei (1694-1775) of Italy founded the Passionist order of priests in 1746. He was canonized by Pope Pius IX in 1867. His holiday is October 20. A life-size relief of him composes the sactuary wall. He points the way of salvation to Christ on the Cross.
Our madonna of the Virgin Mary, the Blessed Mother as Our Lady of Guadalupe - A chapel is reserved to honor Mary, mother of God.
St. Joseph - A chapel is reserved to honor St. Joseph, foster father of Jesus Christ.
The Passion of Christ - The Passionists take a fourth vow, to promote to the utmost of their power, especially by such means as their rules point out, a devotion to the Passion of Our Divine Saviour. Stained glass windows present the passion of Christ. A two-story stain glass window of the resurrected Christ makes up the sactuary.
Twenty-Two Martyrs of Uganda - St. Paul of the Cross has a painting of St. Charles Lwanga and the other 21 Africans Catholic and Anglican Christian canonized saints. The painting was painted by Fr. Michael Moran, C.P. Twenty Two Ugandains were murdered, or tortured to death, in July 1885 for refusing to renounce thier Christain faith, even in exchange for thier lives. Today, Uganda is a Christain country of 2 million Catholics.
St. Martin de Porres (1579 - 1639) of Lima, Peru was a laybrother at the Dominican Friary. He had the gifts of aerial flight and bilocation. He resolved thelogical problems for the local church. He was canonized on May 6, 1962. November 3 is dedicated as his holiday. The parish has a banner of him.
St. Peter Claver - Patron Saint of the African-American Missions St. Peter Claver (1580 - 1654) of Verdu, Catalonia, Spain, was a Jesuit priest. In 1610, he decided to go to Cartagena, in modern day Colombia, the principal slave market of the New World. He worked to abolish slavery, care for slaves, instructed slaves through Negro catechists, and administered the sacraments. This was no appreciated task considering that Africans were thought not to have souls. The Knights of St. Peter Claver is a Catholic fraternity named after him. September 9 is reserved as his holiday. The parish has a banner of him.
St. Benedict, The Black / The Moor, Patron of African-Americans - St. Paul of the Cross has a painting of St. Benedict (1526 - 1589) of Messina, Italy. He was born into slavery and after he was freed, he became a hermit at Montepellegrino, and eventually became the superior. When Pope Pius IV disbanded the hermit communities in 1564, he became a Franciscan lay brother at St. Mary's Convent in Palermo. He first served as the cook, but later was promoted to the superior, and then novice-master. Perferring a life of service, he asked to be relived to be a cook again. He devoted his life to service. He was canonized by Pope Pius VII in 1807. His holiday is celebrated on April 4.
St. Katharine Drexel - St. Katharine Drexel (1858 - 1955) of Philadelphia, PA, devoted her life to the spiritual and material well being of Native-Americans, (the original Americans) and African-Americans. She founded the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament for Indians and Colored People and gave away $20 million to this end. In 1915, she founded Xavier University in New Orleans. It is named after St. Francis Xavier, an original Jesuit priest and missionary. To this day, it is the only university that is both a Historical Black College and a Catholic university. She was beatified by Pope John Paul II on November 20, 1988 and later canonized as one of the only two American saints. Her holiday is celebrated on March 3.